Governor for vacuum cleaning systems.



A. LOTZ c C. W. BAILEY.

GOVERNOR POR VACUUM CLEANING SYSTEMS.

APPLICATION FILED DB0. 30. 1907.

1,12815. Patented Feb. 16, 1915.

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. AUGUSTUS LOTZ, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, AND CLARENCE W. BAILEY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T THE VACUUM CLEANER COMPANY, NEW YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

GOVERNOR FOR VACUUM CLEANING SYSTEMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 16, 1915.

Application inea December 3o, 1am. serial No. 408,525.`

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, AUGUSTUS Lo'rz and CLARENCE W. BAILEY, citizens of the United States, said Lo'rz being a resident of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, and said BAILEY a resident of the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Governors for Vacuum Cleaning Systems, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in vacuum cleaning systems, its object being to provide automatic control of the vacuum creating means determined by the degree of vacuum in the system. The purpose of this is to vary the action of the vacuum creating means proportionate to the variation in the vacuum in the System due t the variable air inlet thereto. In such a system, provided with power 'adequate for the operation of a given number of sweepers operating at a predetermined degree of vacuum, in case the number of sweepers at any time in action 'be less than the maximum, the vacuum creating means would, if unchecked, produce excessive vacuum in /lthe system. Consequently it isl important for the sake of economy, that when such excessive vacuum is attained, the creating means be checked, and the operating power thereby economized proportionately to the requirements upon the system.

In the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, Figure 1 is a conventional drawing of a vacuum sweeping system provided with our improved governor, and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal, sectional, detail of the governing devices. shown connected with the engine governor.

A represents the engine, B the vacuum pump, C the wet separator tank, D the dry separator tank, E a sweeper, F the engine governor and G our improved vacuum governor. The engine is operatively connected to the pump by means of the rod 2. The pump is connected with the tank C by the pipe 3, the tank C with the tank D by the pipe 4, and the tank D with the stand-pipe 5 by the pipe 6.

7 is the hose couplin upon the stand-pipe 5, 8 the hose leading t erefroni to the handle 9 of the sweeper 10 1s a manually operated valve upon said handle for cutting 0H communication between the sweeper and the hose.

l1 is a pipe connecting the tank C with the vacuum governor G.

12 is a pipe leading from the boiler to the steam chest 13, and provided with a valve lllcontrolled by the engine governor F of the top.

Operatively connected with the valve stem 15, is the piston 16 working in the cylinder 17 of the governor G. rlfhis piston is connected by means of the link 17 with the pivoted lever 18, the other end of which lever is connected by the link 19 with the lon arm of the pivoted lever 20, the other en of which engages the stem 15 of the governor G. The lower end of the cylinder 17 is open to the atmosphere and the adjustable stop 21 limits the upward movement of the piston 16. In the upper end of the `casing of the governor G, is a cylinder 22 in which is loosely arranged the weight 23 carried upon rod 24, the upper end 25 of which is a piston working in the cylinder 26 of the head 27. This cylinder 26 is connected as shown in Fig. 1 with the pipe 11 leading to the tank C. The piston 25 has an axial passage 28 leading to lateral vents 29, opening into a circumferential groove 30, which, when the piston is at its upper limit of travel, communicates with the passage 31 leading to the port 32 opening inte the cylinder 17. The piston 25 has also a circumferential groove 33 which when the piston is at the lower limit of its movement opens communication between the passage 31 and the outlet port 34: openingv to the atmosphere.

The position of the parts shown in Fig. 2 is that assumed when excessive vacuum in the system has overcome the gravity of the block 23, and has lifted it so as to open communication between the system and the cylinder 17 causing the piston 16 to move upward to its limit and by means of its connections above described, to act upon the valve stem 15 to partially close the valve l, thereby cutting oil steam from the engine and lowering its speed. By adjusting the stop 21 and lmodifying the dimensions olf. the passage 31, this action may be made as gradual, and limited as desired, the speed et ies ' ceeds the predetermined maximum the sucl the engine and pump being varied to correspond with the requirements of the system, thereby economizing the power.

Inuse the piston 16 under the influence of its own gravity normally rests at the bottom of its cylinder. The weight 23 also rests at the bottom of its chamber, the groove 33 upon the piston 25 afording communication between thecylinder 17 and the' atmosphere, the engine being supplied with the full amount of steam and it and lthe pump running at normal speed. l In case one or more of the valves 10 inthe handles of the sweepers E are turned to cut off the sweepers from the system, the inflowv of air is proportionately diminished, and the vacuum in the system increased. When it eX- tion upon the piston 25 overcomes the weight the vacuum in the system falls su '23, and the piston moves upward to the ,position shown in Fig. 2, thereby cutting oif communication between the cylinder 17 and the atmosphere, and opening communica` tion between the system and the cylinder. The action of the vacuum upon the piston 16 lifts it andl causes it through the connected parts, to actuate the valve stem 15 to partially close the valve 14, thereby lessening the-flow of steam to theengine and lowering the speed of both engine and umpuntil allow the weight 23 to drop, and open communication between the `cylinder 17 and the atmosphere, when the piston 16 drops, re'` storing' Vthe normal 'position of arts' and again admitting the full comp ement of steam to the engine.

We claim:

1. In a vacuum cleaning system, having a ciently to.

connected to said steam valve, means for adjustably limiting the travel of said piston to close said valve, a conduit leadin to said cylinder, a three-way piston va ve adapted to connect -said conduit with said system or theatmosphere, a weight holding said valve normally in position to maintain communication between said conduit and the atmosphere, said valve being adapted to be actuated by excessive vacuum in said system toclose communication between said conduit and the atmosphere and to open communication between said conduit and said system to actuate said piston.

2. In a vacuum cleaning system having a variable air inlet, a vacuum pump, a steam engine for driving said pum a lvalve controlling the iiow of steam to said engine,

a pressure-operated member operatively connected to said steam valye and itself ac tuated by variations between atmospheric pressure and the pressure in said system, a. three-way auxiliary valve `adapted to connect said pressure-operated member with the maintain communication between said pressure-operated member and the atmosphere,

'said auxiliary valve being adapted to be actuated by excessive vacuum in the system to cut off communication between said pressure-operated member and the atmosphere and to open communication between it and rthe system, as and for the purposes speci- AUGUSTUS LOTZ.

lr presence ofd W. C. BURxHoLDnn, J. H. Gummi.

CLARENCE W. BAILEY.

lso 

